Making 'Learning Design' visible in curriculum development

Title

Making 'Learning Design' visible in curriculum development and review

Author(s)

Mr Stephen Linquist, Ms Rachael Phegan

Presentation Goals

Participants who attend this workshop will:

• Situate their potential use of learning design within both the LTAS and Blended Learning agendas.
• Identify how various teams and roles at UTAS can apply the learning design process to further the LTAS and Blended Learning agendas.
• Access a learning design rationale, templates and a working example
• Conduct pedagogical decisions through associating learning tools and spaces (i.e. technologies, physical environments) against individual instances in a partially completed learning design.
• Review a learning design using a self-review tool comprised predominately of open-ended questions

Subtheme

Course Blends

Presentation Type

Flipped

Keywords

quality assurance, learning design, curriculum, design process, pedagogy

Room

Social Sciences 213

Time

12.45-13.45

Abstract

Learning and Teaching Academic Standards (LTAS) have set a mandate for the implementation of quality assurance (QA) processes in Australian universities to ensure transparent, benchmarked, equitable outcomes for Australian graduates. To date, individual institution's first stage response has been the writing of course level learning outcomes and mapping these to unit level learning outcomes and assessment tasks. This is commonly undertaken using diagnostic tools which largely serve a QA function. In parallel, there has been a steadily increased emphasis placed on the utilisation of blended learning across UTAS with the implementation of the UTAS Blended Learning Model. The design process which informs academic use of blended learning is generally hidden when the unit outline is used as the primary unit level curriculum design instrument. Over the past twelve months we have been assisting teaching teams and individual academics to create unit level learning designs. These learning designs have been produced using the unit sequence template which enables the graphic representation (on a single A3 sheet) of the alignment and sequencing of unit elements typically presented in isolation via the unit outline. This template has been promoted on the basis that it can be used to help further both the LTAS and Blended Learning agendas, as we contend that learning design can be the missing link between curriculum and pedagogy. To date, this learning design process has been predominately used by academics designing breadth units which require a blended delivery, and in the AMC for the purpose of validating course level curriculum mapping. Prior to the discussion participants will be given a document which provides a rationale of the process. At the discussion participants will be provided with an opportunity to apply a partially completed sample learning design for the purpose of being able to respond to the following question: How can learning design become a normalised component of academic teaching practice?